All those years outside looking in
by Vendelin
Summary: Albus has fallen in love with Scorpius after years of stalking him around the school by night. In secret of course. Or so he thinks, until this one night. Fluffy. One-shot.


_Albus S. Potter/ Scorpius Malfoy_

_**A/N: **__This is a one-shot I wrote for my friend Carro as a birthday gift – Congratulations! But I decided to upload it for everyone to see, as well. It's just pure fluff and completely pointless, but I kind of liked writing something without much (or any) thought behind it. I hope you'll find it alright! _

_A special thanks to gbheart who agreed to beta this for me. You have been amazing and done such a great job. Thank you!_

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><p>It was close to midnight, and Albus Potter found himself roaming around the empty corridors beneath the invisibility cloak he inherited from his father. It was not the first time he found his feet making their own way towards the dungeons without him realising where he was going before he was already there.<p>

It was like gravity, Albus thought as he positioned himself in a doorway quite close to where the Slytherin common room was located. His eyes did not quite manage to adjust themselves to the darkness, but he knew it would not be a problem.

If he had been standing there for a few hours or just a couple of minutes, Albus did not know. His mind had a way of drifting off whenever he stood still for too long, and the darkness around him was still thick and black, revealing nothing about how much time could have passed.

He heard him before he saw him. Quiet footsteps on the stone floor – just a bare scraping from the sole of the expensive shoes. A few seconds later, Albus could distinguish the silver blonde hair from the darkness.

Scorpius Malfoy seemed to suffer from insomnia, too, Albus had decided a couple of years back when he was walking around the school one night. Scorpius knew nothing, of course; they were far from friends. Not even enemies. Just effectively ignoring each other, pretending as if the other did not exist, and Albus was not completely sure why.

Uncle Ron had spoken about the insufferable brats the Malfoys were and how bad Scorpius' father had treated Albus' dad during their school years. For some reason, their paths had just never crossed, and they had never even exchanged a word. But that night, a few years back, Albus had gotten the stupid idea to get to know Scorpius _without_ talking to him.

And that was how Albus Potter started stalking Scorpius Malfoy for almost every night over the past few years.

He felt as if he knew Scorpius better than anyone. He knew very little about his interests, of course, because that would naturally take some questions being asked, and Albus did not ask Scorpius questions. But Albus knew the way the other boy rubbed his sleepless eyes, as if he thought the action alone would create a sudden need for sleep. He knew how Scorpius hummed the songs from the Weird Sisters' Greatest Hits whenever he was alone.

Whenever he _thought_ he was alone, Albus corrected himself.

He also knew that Scorpius was afraid of the dark, but still walked around the school almost every night.

And he knew that he was madly in love with Scorpius, even though they had never officially met. Never spoken. Never even looked each other in the eye. Well, except for today, when their eyes had met across the tables in the Great Hall. Albus was quite sure that he had imagined the whole thing, since it only lasted a fraction of a second, and he had come to the conclusion, when his breath had returned to normal, that Scorpius had been looking at someone behind him.

Albus could almost make out the sharp, pale face of the other boy from the shadows now, and he knew that Scorpius would stop, only a few feet away, for a few breaths as if he was waiting for something. Because Scorpius always did, and Albus always stood there, watching him, silently wondering why Scorpius stopped right there every time.

The blonde hair was so unlike the way it was kept during classes. Not nearly as unruly as Albus', but it was such a contrast to the carefully put together appearance Scorpius showed to everyone else. His usually slicked back hair always seemed to complete the arrogant look of his expensive, tailored robes and fancy shoes.

Albus held his breath and widened his eyes as if to take in as much as possible of the other boy when Scorpius halted in front of him, as he always did. He watched Scorpius tilt his head a little, as if he was expecting something, or perhaps just making himself sure of something; Albus had no idea what it was. Then he smiled a barely-there smile, just a tiny curve upwards at the corners of his mouth.

Scorpius stood there longer than he usually did, and Albus' head began to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen, as he stood there holding his breath. He tried to breathe in quietly and slowly when his lungs could not take it anymore and Scorpius' smile grew wider as Albus drew a breath.

"I thought you were going to talk to me tonight," Scorpius said without turning towards Albus, who felt as if he should faint, or panic or do _anything_ else other than flush crimson where he stood.

Scorpius' voice was soft, velvety almost, not at all like Albus had heard it in class when the other boy passed snide remarks at whoever was the least successful with the task at hand. Except for Albus, of course, he never passed a comment at Albus even when he was the biggest failure by far.

"I know you're there," Scorpius sighed and rolled his eyes, as he turned towards Albus – his face close enough to be separated from the shadows.

Albus had no idea what to say, if to say anything at all, even. He had never counted on anything like this happening. That he would have Scorpius Malfoy standing approximately two feet away from him in an abandoned corridor, in the middle of the night, speaking to him as if this was a completely normal situation.

"I thought you were going to talk to me tonight", Scorpius repeated, "I thought you wanted to. I thought you were tired of this game we have been playing for years now."

Albus' mouth was too dry for him to create any sounds. This, on the other hand, might have been a good thing, since his brain was too chaotic to create any sentences worthy of the ears of Scorpius Malfoy.

"I kind of like your company at night, you know. At first I was kind of freaked out by you following me around like some creepy stalker, but I kind of became accustomed to it. You're terrible at being invisible, of course. Popular Albus cannot _bear_ to not be seen or heard, even when he thinks he wants to be invisible."

Albus swallowed fiercely while his brain tried to puzzle a decent sentence together, but it was hard with Scorpius standing so close to him, looking more striking than ever. His features was so sharp that he had been pointy and angular for the first years of school, before his face had grown up enough to make him look aristocratic, with a confidence worthy of royalty. But Albus' favourite part of Scorpius was his pale blue eyes, which looked steel-grey indoors and light blue when the rays of sun hit them just the right way.

"I'm still waiting," Scorpius said with an undertone of impatience and an annoyance that told Albus that the other boy was not used to other people not doing what he told them to. "I could always leave."

"No," Albus suddenly croaked out, even surprising himself a little.

"No?" Scorpius tiny smile widened a little, and he turned his face back towards Albus'. "Didn't your father tell you that it is rude to remain invisible when someone is talking to you?"

"Not really," Albus admitted and resisted a sudden urge to keep the cloak on just to annoy Scorpius. Instead, he pulled off the soft fabric, revealing himself to the other boy, who kept his face impassive.

"Maybe your father should teach you some manners, Potter," Scorpius remarked, smirking. There was something playful in his way of speaking, as if he was not trying to be offensive, but innocently teasing.

"Didn't your father teach you not to talk to strangers?" Albus retorted, but he felt his heart was beating a little _too_ fast for his attempt at a carefree appearance to be completely realistic.

"Does one still count as a stranger if one has been stalking me for a few years?" Scorpius smiled innocently and took half a step closer to Albus.

"I guess not," Albus sighed in defeat, "And I guess I should have done a better job with the stalking." He tried not to look at Scorpius, whose eyes were unnaturally bright in the dark hallway. And his body was too close to Albus'. Way too close.

"If you had, I might never had noticed you," Scorpius muttered, and his features softened somewhat into a genuine smile.

Albus had never seen that smile before.

"And that would be a bad thing?" Albus decided to play a little dumb.

"Definitely."

Albus noticed how his lips became the object of Scorpius' gaze and licked them automatically. He was not completely sure what was happening, and he started wondering if he had fallen asleep without even realising it.

"I…" Albus started, but broke off when his brain remained completely empty.

"You, what?" Scorpius asked when it was clear that Albus was not going to complete the sentence.

"I just…why are you even here? Talking to me? Why aren't you ignoring me like you've done the last couple of years? It doesn't make sense to me," Albus blurted out in over-speed, as if his brain was incapable of providing him with words in a steady flow.

"I got tired of waiting." Scorpius smiled again, and his eyes found Albus'.

"Waiting for what?" Albus asked, not even faking his stupidity anymore.

"For you to ask me out," Scorpius clarified, as he splayed his hand over the other boy's chest.

"Why didn't _you_ ask _me_ out?" Albus questioned, still not completely comprehending the situation.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and sighed, apparently of the opinion that Albus acted more stupid than he necessarily was.

"I'm a _Malfoy_, Albus. I don't ask for something when there's a possibility I could get a no for an answer."

Albus stared at him for a few ragged breaths. He could feel the radiating heat from Scorpius' body through his robes and the pulsating sounds of his own heartbeat in his ears.

"But there were never that possibility," he whispered, searching for some kind of sign behind the steely grey surface of Scorpius' irises.

They gave him no such thing, but he stumbled back against the cold stone wall instead, when Scorpius lips harshly and unexpectedly crashed into his.

For a couple of seconds, he could do nothing but stare with his mouth immobile, still taking in the feeling of Scorpius' soft lips on his. They made his whole body tingle oddly and his breath stick in his throat. They made his heart stop for a moment before it started racing, like it needed to catch up for losing its rhythm. They made his eyes flutter shut, and he hesitantly began kissing back.

Scorpius' hands caressed the planes of his chest and the Quidditch-stiff muscles of his shoulders, before they slowly found his neck and the unruly strands of hair that just barely reached the collar of his shirt.

Albus pressed their bodies together as he folded his arms tightly around Scorpius' waist. The beating of another's heart against his ribs made his knees a little weak; it was completely out of time with his own, but still carrying the same desperate message.

His breath was ragged and shallow when Scorpius suddenly broke away with his tie a little askew and his hair in a mess – created by Albus' urgent hands.

"You will take me to Madam Puddifoot's next Hogsmeade weekend," Scorpius said, making no room for the other boy to argue.

"Yes," Albus breathed, still a little light headed with lips slightly swollen.

Scorpius rewarded him with a wide smile before leaning forward to press a soft kiss on Albus' lips while straightening his collar.

Albus could do nothing but look as the other boy turned around and started walking off as if he was not even close to as taken by what had just happened as Albus was.

Scorpius suddenly turned around with that smile still on his lips.

"And don't bring me flowers." And with that, he was lost in the darkness and Albus was leaning against the wall with a stupid smile on his face, trying to decide what type of flowers Scorpius would dislike the most for him to bring next Hogsmeade weekend.


End file.
